The Football Forecast

Newcastle: Three areas we should strengthen

During this transfer window, a lot of activity is necessary. In this article, I’ll be looking at the areas Newcastle need to strengthen and recommend a player for that position.

1. Centre back

With Hanley supposedly leaving for another Championship club Newcastle will have 3 center backs at the club. All 3 have their strengths and weaknesses. Lascelles is a very strong player with good leadership qualities. He can organize his backline and defend well. However, he doesn’t have pace on his side and can be left in the dust by quick players. On the other hand, there is Mbemba. I, personally, think he’s the best out of the three. He is strong, quick and can play the ball well; an attribute key in the modern Premier League. But his performances can be poor if his confidence is low. Finally, we have Ciaran Clark. Many fans were unsure on the Irishman when he first signed but he quickly put his critics to bed, playing very well very consistently. The best part of his game is his ball playing ability. He can play long balls over the top to quickly restart attacks. But when he was playing for Aston Villa he made several key mistakes and that is slightly worrying for the Premier League.

I would recommend a player Newcastle have been heavily linked with, Florian Lejeune. He’s a mix of a traditional English center half with his hard tackling and a modern ball playing center back. You can see a highlights video of him here.He would fill the gap between a Lascelles type of player and an Mbemba type of player.

2. Centre midfielder

One of the biggest squad depth problems of last season was the ‘Jonjo Shelvey role’. Shelvey was the heartbeat of the team, he created every attack. So if Shelvey wasn’t playing, very few attacks happened. The only other center midfielders are Colback and Hayden and they aren’t creative players. That’s why the team suffered during Shelvey’s 5 game ban.

I’d like to see the board go in for Manchester City’s Fabian Delph. The Englishmen is seen as surplus to requirement and won’t cost a huge amount. He comes with Premier League experience and would fit in well.

3. Striker

The club currently has 2 out and out strikers (Perez is more of an attacking mid and Murphy looks on his way out) Mitrovic and Gayle. Mitrovic’s finishing is poor at times but can bring other players into the game with his hold up play. Gayle, on the other hand, has very good finishing but is only a poacher. That is a current void in the squad.

I’d recommend Burnley’s Andre Gray. He scored 9 league goals but I think he has the potential to be getting 15 goals a season with the right management. He has some experience in England and would be a welcome addition.